The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-08-31
SYBILS AND SUCKERS.
How the Latter are Bled by
the Former.
IN OWNING THE FUTURE.
The Victims of the Art-Mistress and
Maid Equally susceptible-The
Ambitious Hen.

Fortune-telling and the des ire to
divine the future are as old as the hui
man race. Business was probably at
its best with augurs, OWNERS and sooth-
sayers in the mighty days when Ro me
was mistress of the world, 9 little ere
Cesar fell. Cesar was himself patron
OF the guild, and his knees knocked to.
gether when post-mortem on lot OF
chicken entr ais was reported unfavor-
able. It was in CRsar's time that the
bulk of the fortune-telling business was
done by men. A few hundred years
previous to that the women had the
cream Of the trade, and, in fact, as now,
about monopolized the business.
Those who carried their bust
ness to the dignity of a
high art were called SYPHILIS, which
il adapted from the Greek words mean
ing the council of God" Some OF
these ladies were little cranky. They
had a fixed price. and an awful high
one, for their prophecies, and never had
any closing out sales at half price to
make room for winter stock. Every
body remembers that fine old sybil re-
corded by Livy, who appeared one day
before King Tarquin the Proud, and
offered him nine books for sale. The
price demanded appeared exorbitant to
Tarouin, who was then making a record
for economy, and he refused to pur-
chase them. The sybl went away IN
huff, destroyed three of the volumes,
and returning with the remaining six,
asked as much for them as she had for
the original set OF nine. She was again
refused. whereupon this ancient book
ond doqtrnUQH three
more volumes, and once offered to sell
him the last remaining three without
any abatement of the. original price. This
struck Tarquin as rather strange
way of doing BUSINESS and
he bought the remaining three
hooks. which were found to contain
advice regarding the religion and pol
lev of the Romans. These were placed
in q subterranean chamber of the Tenn
ple of Jupiter, on the Capitoline Hill,
and the temple was destroyed by fire "a
B. c., as Rome had no fire department
at that time that could at all compare
with the Indianapolis Fire Department
of to day.
The little yellow birds that are seen IN
cages upon street corners, and VINO
tell YOUR fortune, mees, fo' a nee-kel,
by hopping out and selecting an envel-
ope with printed legend upon it, some
thing like couplet on candy kiss. is
a much simpler way of doing things
than the Romans had. The Romans
thought highly of birds In diVlning
events, and the augur (who came to De
something of bore no doubt) was an
officer who pretended to foretell future
events blythe singing, chatterlng, night
and feeding of birds. He enlarged his
knowledge by observing other signs and
omens derived from celestial Phenom-
ena and certain accidents.
It was the Arabian astrologer who
lifted the profession of diyining the tu-
ture far above what it had been before,
and by his star-gazing gave to the
world knowledge of the heavens,
which. Invested of its rubbish, proved
to be valuable. Astrologers did not
have apy trade with the common
people. They came high, and only
kings and princes, certainly nothing
under q count could afford to patronlze
them. They did not pay much atten--
ton 10 affairs of love, but foretold great
events, the affairs of nations and noble
personages. 1t may be safely set down
that no astrologer ever advertised as
follows:
THE ONLY RELIABLE ORACLE IN
the city Would you know the 1uIure!
IL YOU would, consult Madame francesca
Giihooly, the world-renowned Spanish
Gypsy, on love, marriage, divorce, lawsuits,
removals and speculatiOns. of all kinds:
She can advise all in trouble OF BODY, mind
and estate; causes the single to marry ana
the married to be contented; charms and
talismans; brings the separated together
removes evil influences, Jealousy: locates
diseases and cures at once. Advice TO
ladies, soc. and 81. Three questions by
mail. soc. in stamps. Remember, Madame
Gilhooly succeeds where all others TAIL
There are half dozen or more women
in Indianapolis who make living by
fortune-teiling. Their patronage does
not come wholly from the ignorant, for
some of the credulous are persons who
have fairly good educations, and who
are on other subjects mentally sound.
There are some acute business men in
this CITY of sufficient gullibility to make
them. steady and profitable customers
to the fortune-teller. They go to the
sybil to consult her about business
affairs, chiefly as to speculations, now
and then, as to whether it will be safe to
extend the limit of credit to a customer,
or whether it will be advisable to make
a change in travelling men. For the
most part, however, the patrons of this
old and silly kind of humbug come
from the women, and love is usually
the absorbing topic of inquiry
that lbrings the mistress from the parlor
and the maid from the kitchen to
the brazeh-faeed- and shreWd fortune
teller. It seemingly never occurs to
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